Patient Care

A trauma surgeon and a nurse participate in a study to make the most of every blood draw in the ICU.

Washington University acute and critical care surgeons focus on trauma, emergency general surgery and critical care. They staff a regional referral center that receives critically ill patients (often transported by air) from accident scenes and emergency rooms or inpatient treatment facilities at community hospitals. Barnes-Jewish Hospital – with care provided by these surgeons – has been designated as a Level I Trauma Center by the State of Missouri and is one of three hospitals in the state to earn Level I verification by the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

Surgeons in this section – all of whom are board certified in general surgery and advanced trauma life support – coordinate the care of all adult trauma patients referred to the medical center. They expertly treat patients with all general surgical emergencies (such as appendicitis or bowel obstruction), including those associated with critical illness (such as acute respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis). They are expert in the treatment of patients with acute injuries (such as those acquired in auto crashes and industrial incidents), thermal injuries (burns from heat, cold, chemical or electrical incidents), and those requiring emergency surgery.

According to the Society of Critical Care Medicine, nearly 80% of all Americans will experience a critical illness or injury as a patient, family member or friend of a patient. The goal of surgeons in the Acute and Critical Care Surgery section is to provide the earliest and best possible treatment to critically ill and injured patients, whose medical care in the first few hours after an injury can have a profound effect on outcome.